Prison Exhibit Opens At Wethersfield Historical Society

Prison exhibit opens at Wethersfield Historical Society, get the details.

WETEHRSFIELD -- The tiny prison cell is made of metal and plywood, the bed a steel slab suspended by chains and the furniture a primitive, rough-hewn stool and table.

Welcome to the Wethersfield State Prison segregation unit.

The cell is a centerpiece of the Wethersfield Historical Society's exhibit on the old prison entitled "Castle on the Cove" -- the inmate nickname for the institution that operated from 1827 to 1963. The exhibit officially opened Thursday.

The cell, complete with a heavy barred door reminiscent of a prison movie circa 1940, isn't just for display. Exhibit-goers are encouraged to enter the forbidding cubicle, society Curator Rachel Zilinski said.

"It's meant to go in," said Zilinski of the cell, given to Coventry police when the prison was razed in 1967 and donated to the historical society around 2008. "It's meant to give you an impression of the prisoner's life."

The exhibit is two years in the making during which time the society collected artifacts, stories and pictures from area residents. Society Executive Director Amy Northrop Wittorff thanked the community and the exhibit's sponsors. The display is dedicated to the state's correctional officers, she said.

"They are one of the unrecognized groups that deserve credit," Wittorff said. "It's a very tough job."

The exhibit includes an artifact even more macabre than the segregation cell: the state's electric chair. The Department of Correction loaned the execution device, used from 1937 to 1960, for the exhibit.

"They appreciated that we are showing it in an historical context," Zilinski said.

The chair, with its skullcap and other accessories, is displayed behind a partition with a sign warning viewers before they enter. Photographing and videotaping of the device is prohibited.

"They are definitely moving objects whether you are moved in one way or another," Zilinski said. "They tell a story."

The display lists the names of the 18 men executed in the chair between 1937 and 1960. The last was Joseph "Mad Dog" Taborsky, who was convicted of a string of murders.

The exhibit includes many other artifacts, including crockery, clothing, items including a gun, manufactured in prison factories, a kerosene lantern carried by guards and handicrafts, such as a ship in a bottle given by an inmate to a guard.

A major focus of the exhibit is the prison's impact on Wethersfield. The town greatly benefited from the institution, providing employment and bringing services like electricity, municipal water and trolleys sooner, Zilinski said.

The prison was integrated into the community, with local Little League teams sometimes using its baseball diamond and local Girl Scout troops getting tours, Zilinski said.

"It was part of every day life," she said.

At the end of the exhibit, visitors are encouraged to submit their impressions and make suggestions. The society plans to tweak the exhibit, which will run until 2016, based on the comments and mount satellite displays in adjacent rooms, Zilinski said.

The exhibit is at the Keeney Memorial Center at 200 Main St. in Old Wethersfield. The center is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission to the exhibit is free.